Kettle apologised to McCall over penalty incident

Stuart McCall has revealed that referee Trevor Kettle has apologised to him via email after failing to give his side a penalty against Southend United on Tuesday night.

Following his performance, Kettle came under fierce scrutiny from a number of Scunthorpe fans present at Roots Hall and on social media.

Some of the Iron faithful believe that the referee was wrong to send off James Perch, but also questioned several other decisions Kettle made during the game.

In the closing stages, Stuart McCall’s side were denied what appeared to be two stonewall penalty decisions, one of which was a claim for handball by a Southend defender and the other was a kick and a shove on Yasin Ben El-Mhanni.

The United boss has now revealed that he has received an apology from Kettle for getting one of those decisions wrong.

“I had an email on Friday from the referee, which I appreciate, saying they made a mistake and it was a penalty kick,” McCall told the club’s website.

“Obviously, it wouldn’t have had a bearing on the outcome really because it was the last kick of the game, but I appreciate the honesty. We all make mistakes.”